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uonBAJasaJd 



"The Missing Link" 

and The Howard Theatre 




BY 
J. ARTHUR DAVIS. A. B. 

Former Theatre Manager 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Price 15 Cents. 



4 



;-3 



Do Not 
Remove 



71-49 (rev 6/93) 



"The Missing Link" 

and The Howard Theatre 




BY 

J. ARTHUR DAVIS, A. B. 

Former Theatre Manager 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



1911 

MURRAY BROS. PRESS 

Washington; D. C. 







\ 



aV 






The bequesi: of 

Daniel Murray, 

Washington, D. C. 

1925. 



■ ^1/ 
A 



1 






FOREWORD 



Cub Motto: "Thiv End Justifies the Means." 




flE co-existence of the Americo-Anglo-Saxon 
and the Afro-American presents an aspect at 
once tragic and unparalleled. This Americo- 
Anglo-Saxon sprang from the loins of the com- 
monwealths of England and Germany, of 
France and Spain — in short from the Caucasion 
race whose history reputes it to have been a 
globe-trotting gambler : 

*' Whose game was empire 

And whose stakes were thrones, 
Whose table the earth, 

Whose dice were human bones." 

From the branches of this race the American-Anglo-Saxon has 
been moulded into a most hardy and virile type of man — into a 
highly complex civilization. 

Pitted against him is the Afro-American evolved from the 
lowest tribes of West Africa; and moulded into what? Into the 
arts and devices of oppression mastered by the Americo-Anglo- 
Saxon ; and into the dire strategem of those leading Negroes ap- 
pointed by Americo-Anglo-Saxon public sentiment. 

The Afro- American forms what? An invisible world. In it 
the average Afro-American builds a veneered civilization. 

So long had the Afro-American those slave masters who se- 
lected his habitat, his food, his raiment, his family life, that his 
volition, nay, his every sensibility, was impaired, and the average 
A fro- American walks in this invisible world only semi-conscious 
of things about him — rather careless, happy, singing and laughing 
his occasional troubles away and forming a spiral development. 

He seems to regard the Americo-Anglo-Saxon government as an 
inexorable natural order of things which man did not help to 
construct ; and which he should not attempt to impeach. 



r^r\ 



TTe frets and fumes awhile, but this is hke the action of the 
farmer who grows sullen behind the plow because of excessive 
heat or rain, and who is just as likely to pray as to swear; he 
finally consoles himself that this weather is God's business, His 
natural laws, and that he has no right to interfere, and so he moves 
on. 

Accordingly, we see the average Afro-American suffering the 
Americo-Anglo-Saxon to throw into this invisible world every 
humiliation — he endures every pollution, every rapacity, every in- 
adequacy, every inefficiency — in fact, anything, rather tlian bravely 
dare the responsibilities of freedom ! 

The purpose of. "The Secret Boycotting and Equitable Club'" 
is to espouse the cause of the oppressed. 

It is in the interest of this new school movement that this 
booklet has been written. 

The Author. 



The Missing Link and The Howard Theatre 



By J. ARTHUR DAVIS, A. B. 



There are only two fundamental necessities, namely: That 
which protects mankind from heat and cold, and that which satis- 
fies hunger and thirst. 

The essential ingredient and charm of man's endeavor beyond 
the securing of actual necessities is luxury and achievement. If 
the climate which man inhabits does not naturally furnish his ne- 
cessities, he must develop the economic fitness to produce them. 
The ambition merely to secure necessities is often true as well of 
a given people as of individuals. This difference of ambition 
largely accounts for a variation of development ; for to the extent 
that man realizes his own personality, puts forth all his powers 
and potencies and unfolds the flower of his being, he develops 
certain traits, both mental and tempermental, newer methods and 
systems to utilize production and to foster transportation and 
communication. Thus he expands himself to wider influences and 
newer social conditions, both as to each individual to the other, 
also to society and surrounding peoples. 

Anent such expansion two instincts, which fundamentally char- 
acterize mankind in his complex relation to society, grow one or 
the other, more or less pertinent, to wit : The instinct to control 
and the instinct to submit. These instincts are noticeably true of 
children on playgrounds where one, or more, assume or affect to 
assume, the lerylership in plays, or more particularly among men 
in their daily contact where the fittest control. But the greatest 
exhibition of these instincts occurs between races, more or less, 
and is an appalling aspect in our state — country, as observed be- 
tween the Anglo-Saxon especially, and the Negro, we may add, 
wherever these two peoples largely intermingle in physical contact. 

Born of a climate which forces them to acquire a great economic 
and social efficiency, the whites have developed preparedness to 
exercise very keenly, even despotically, the sense of control, while 
the Negro, born of opposite climate, making his condition neces- 
sarily one of comparative submission, has often and philosophic- 
ally exercised the instinct of submission. 



Some writers consider this quality of the Negro evidence of 
an inherent inferiority. WilHam Benjamin Smith, author of "The 
Color Line," in an academic and sentimental outburst exclaims : 

"Has it just happened that, in all quarters of the world and under all 
climatic and topographic conditions East and West, North and South, 
Iieneath the tropics and within the frozen circles, by the sea and amid 
the mountains, in snow, in sand, in forest — that everywhere and everywhen 
the Caucasian has manifested the same all-conquering, over-mastering 
qualities — not always good or kind or just, hut always strong, always 
striving, always victorious? And never and nowhere and under no 
circumstances, has the black man displayed any such capacities as could 
bring him for a moment into consideration as the white man's equal?" 
. . . "The race is what its life is and has been" . . . "Accordingly, the 
Negro being concededly inferior to the white, there is no hope of raising 
him to the white level by education or civilization.". . . "This question 
is: what has the future in store for the Negro? If social equality must 
be resolutely denied him forever, if he is to be treated as an outcast and 
a pariah, because of his race and the weight of inheritance which he can 
never shake off from his shoulders, what hope remains? Where are the 
blessings of freedom? Is their emancipation but an apple of Sodoni 
turning to ashes on his lips?" 

It is interesting as well as remarkable, or rather painful, to 
observe the many devices the whites have contrived from time to 
time to exercise control over the Negro. The first was physical 
or chattel slavery. This Western civilization was growing too 
complex to longer tolerate, hence other or kindred forms of op- 
pression were invoked ; these are : 

(a) Seduction of courts to humiliate and crucify Negroes, 

(b) Lynching bees, mobs and burning at the stake. 

(c) Disfranchisement, 

(d) Peonage, chain-gangs and fraudulent contracts, 

(e) "Jim Crowism," "Optional Jim Crowism," 
(/) Sensational Journalism. 

(g) Industrialism. 

(h) Christianity (used as an excuse to teach obedience). 

(i) Etc., etc., etc. 

To summarize : If chattel slavery were mostly ph3'sical, these 
kindred forms of oppression effect in the Negro an intellectual 
slavery. It was this chain of circumstances which made neces- 
sary, if he be neccssarv. a Booker T. Washington, a man of many 
proportions and at times a very ugly spectacle ; but a perfect 
mirror of Afro-Americans. In him is found perfected their diplo- 
matic or philosophic nature and disposition which this chain of 
circumstances demands and to which Afro-Americans have 
ada])ted themselves in order to exist side by side with the white 
American. 



Although the acute soviTcign spirit and better manhood of 
Afro-Anierioans died ore Harriet Beeoher Stowe wrote, or John 
Brown wept, or even before Lincohi issued from the womb of 
tune, white sentiment has held forth this man as a mediator between 
tlie two races as if to watch over the Negro and to impeach his 
aims as a man, by using wrongfully a needed factor, the industrial 
regime to espouse this cause. As if industrialism were more 
hoalthy in serfdom than intellectualism. Accorrlingly, industrial- 
ism being pitted against serfdom at the South and unionism at the 
North, it has reacted to impress the masses of Negroes to under- 
rate themselves, to retrace their steps, as it were, from matters 
highl}' intellectual and of state to keep quiet and demand less 
than average Americans. This man has had no more impress 
upon their thrift and industry than a thunderbolt has upon the 
change of seasons. The further result nationally has been prac- 
tically to reduce the Negro, North and South, to the same civil 
level and to an insignificant quantity in politics. 

As the great upheavel of the Civil War severed States asunder, 
gave the Negro legislative power and executive authority, brought 
forth altruistic and philanthropic friends, and as the causes of this 
ui)heaval were removed, the States coalesced, Negroes lost gradu- 
ally their power, influence and friends, even so will the surging 
tide of industrialism subside as the latent causes expire which 
produced them ; which causes were to reduce nationally the Negro 
to a given and fixed humiliated level. Thus will end three dis- 
tinct epochs of the Negro's history — slavery, enfranchisement, 
and the making of him a half-man. 

The death of Mr. Washington and his work will be coincident. 
Five years after this event will be amply sufficient, despite law and 
order, for his State to turn Tuskegee over to the white youths, 
r.ut for all this, he is blameless and well-intentional in his de- 
meanor; his race bore and nurtured him; Africa made his race; 
God made all. Fix the responsibility ! Like Blind Tom, he is a 
monstrosity. To Blind Tom every sound was music and he could 
reproduce it. To Mr. Washington everything inter-racial is peace 
and harmony, and all matter needs industrializing. Could he 
command the tail of the comet, he would hang it over Tuskegee. 

Lynch him! Breathe a new life into his being, even then with 
the courtesy of an "After-you-my-dear-Gaston," he would ex- 
claim. "All is peace and order." 'Tn things social we can be as 
separate as the fingers, but in things industrial, we can be one aa 
the hand !" 



Prominent men always embody certain traits of their people, 
and their conduct and achievement are dependent upon the social 
efficiency of that people. The social efficiency of ditTerent peoples 
often makes vast dilTerences in their men. 

When the International Suntlay School convention offered 
memliership to President Diaz of Mexico, he is said to have re- 
marked : 

■■\\ hen a people like the Americans draw th.e cokir line on hiack people 
and 1 accept membership, with my republic full of black men, who are 
manning our railroads, army and national industries, 1 would be unfit 
to make laws for any people. The black man has rights and privileges 
in Mexico that the world must respect and 1 will not wash my hands by 
accepting a membership in an association which seeks to enslave my 
fcllowman." 

_ "J trust the American Xegro will not weaken, Init will fight for his 
rights until the judgment day, when we shall all meet Him face to face." 

]\lr. Washington accepted this membership with the deepest 
graditude. 

It is noteworthy that race sentiment and volition must produce 
men capable of leadershi}) and correct their attitude; must eli'ect 
moral evolutions. In this essential Afro-Americans have been 
very inert. It is grievous to observe their pacific nature and en- 
durance of humiliation. Neither oppression nor current events 
have had much effect upon this disposition. 

The Revolt of San Domingo Blacks, which brought their free- 
dom, precipitated freedom in Venzuela, Brazil, Jamaica, and com- 
pelled Napoleon to exclaim: "Tf a handful of Negroes in San 
Domingo can destroy my legions, I could not hold Louisiana in 
case of war. I will .sell at once." This, we say, failed to inspire 
Afro-Americans. Nor did they give John Brown a passing notice, 
and, nay, shamefully remained hjyal and enslaved after the North 
had clashed with the South, till they were asked and sought to 
shoulder arms, thus paving their way to a probable endless oppres- 
sion upon American soil. 

The assasin's dart or the power of an explosive, thev know not. 
nor have they volunteered one drop of blood during all their dis- 
franchisement. It would seem that, if Anglo-Saxons arc masters 
of the art to control, Afro-Americans are masters of the art to 
submit. 

To further demonstrate racial relation, it seems sufficient to ex- 
pound chiefly two devices, namely: (1) "Jim Crowism," and, 
incidcntly, Separatencss. (2) Optional "Jim Crowism." 

"Jim Crowism" is a peculiar device of the artful Anglo-Saxon. 



Tt arises from a sense of bh^od superiority that causes a hostile 
pubHc opinion which cHscriminates in influencing courts to render 
■ liscriminatory decisions, or legislators to pass segregating laws. 
"Jim Crowism" does not assume that the Negro is inferior, it 
asserts it, and proceeds to authorize him to act accordingly. Such 
signals, "This Car for \Miites Only," "This Entrance for Col- 
ored," "Xo dogs, cats or Negroes allowed in here," are pertinent 
reminders of this sense of blood superiority. It is an incentive 
to whites to form greater race volition, and administers a sort 
of hypnotic state of mind into the weaker Negro, effecting his 
belief that probably he is a little inferior to whites. He proceeds 
to minimize his sense of rights and unconsciously responds by 
conduct to that feeling. 

"Jim Crowism" aims squarely at the mind. Tt is a dangerous 
and curious hypnotic. "Jim Crowism" and the misconstrued con- 
ceptions of industrialism have had as sordid an effect upon the 
Negro as the opium habit upon Chinese. It is difficult for the 
average mind to tell where "Jim Crowism" begins or ends. Herein 
lies the ensnaring force and occult power. 

"Jim Crowism" must be distinguished from separateness and 
optional "Jim Crowism." Separateness is an outgrowth of race 
integrity and race volition to maintain self-respect and manliness 
against discrimination, and to develop an individual species and 
racial projection to the exclusion of any alien relation likely to 
propagate spurious ties and bonds, or humiliation. It is the posi- 
tive act of a oeople voluntarily to accommodate themselves to 
supply their ov>'n demands and thereby save racial pride. 

The most noteworthy incident of separateness sprang from the 
Japanese troul)le on the Pacific Slope. After the Russo-Japanese 
\\^ar the expanding energies of the Flowery Kingdom resulted in 
considerable immigration to this country, precipitating agitation 
for the exclusion of Japanese laborers and the Jim-Crowing of 
Japanese children in the public schools of San Francisco. As an 
alternative to accepting "Jim Crowism," or sending the United 
States an ultimatum as a causa belli. Japan adopted the following 
policy of Separateness, to mention : That Japan herself be esteemed 
the privilege and accorded the confidence to regulate and restrict 
her own laborers or immigration in accordance with her dignity 
and honor. This conceded, she did thus and followed that step 
quietly by the policy, "Asia for the Asiatics, and Japan for the 
Queen of Asia." To-flay the hand of the Mikado directly directs, 
but quietly and secretly, the policy of the Orient. 



ll is further ir.entionabic that the A. M. E. Chui\-h and .VegTi- 
llaptist Churches are exam|)les of Negro Separateness. 

(2) Optional "Jim Crowisni" arises from the mercenary -in- 
stinct anil sagacity of whites to make monetary profits from 
supplying the demarids of weaker Negroes wherever that demand 
arises from "jim-Cruwing " Negroes from a particular place or 
places of amusements or where there is possibility of social 
intermingling. Optional "Jim Crowism" is more economic than 
racial. 

Self-respect, manliness, sufficient to refuse to patronize such 
enterprises, and investments to establish enterprises similar to 
those which white mercenaries establish to accommodate Negroes, 
are expedient and indispensable. l>eing socially o*^tracized it is 
but a policy of separateness to foster such enterprises. This 
practically aiuotmts to a boycott, and is a sure panacea for op- 
tional "Jim Crowism." 

i>ul the remedy for blotting out "Jim Crowism" remains undi>- 
covered. It is rather too late, or seems so, for the Negro to blot 
it out. To do so now would require more manhood than the 
Negro has hitherto possessed, much money, and possibly the 
sheddir.g of much blood. To approach practical cases and review 
the.se "Isms." as found in W ashington, D. C. Mere is an enornious 
field for Negro energy along aesthetic and constructive lines. 
Where there is a demand there must be a supph*. As the aesthetic 
tendency of a people grows proper amusement must be fostered. 

As to shows, anent such demand a few energetic Negroes 
established four motion picture and vaudeville houses : Alaceo, 
Minnehaha. The Ford Dabney. and Hiawatha, all in the 
"vicinity of the True Reformers' Hall, They were w^ell patronized 
at first, but did not supply the demand of one hundred thovisand 
Negroes. This economic fact and the kindred and social fact 
that in this city large first-class tlieaters bar Negro show^s and 
"Jim Crow" Negro patronage, the further fact that all white 
moti(/n j)icture houses either "Jim Crow" Negroes, or peremptorily 
demand no Negro patronage 'at all. gives occasion to white mer- 
cenaries to make even a stampede at establishing optional "Jim- 
Crow" theaters for Negroes. Enough to prick the heart of an 
Ajax ! This depravity is, when whites "Jim Crow" Negroes either 
in or from every available and respectable amusement place, or 
in cases of common carriage, thus driving them upon their own 
resources for pleasure as a last resort; and then when the white 
mercenaries invade that last resort to build optional "Jim Crow" 

10 



tlicalcrs. or other i)lai.-i.s of arnusenients, to accommodate Xcgrocs 
to the practical exchision of whites is just as humiliating and 
damaging as any established contlitions of "■Jim Crovvism.'" 

Jt is notewiirtin dial, 

( 1 ) The owners employ, as a designation of these sliows. 
names generally t)f heroic whiles whi) have liisloric re])Utation for 
achievement in l)ehalf of Negroes and to \\h .in Negroes more or 
less feel gratefvd. Such names are: "The Lincoln," and "'TIk' 
Moward." I ly this Uiey intend a sym])atin-. though maudlin, a-^ 
an incaicemeni. 

Note their reser\ation of self-respect and l(*yalt\' to iheir own 
I'ace. They do not name a;iy after notefl Negroes. 

( ■<; ) They gcnerallv use Xegroes to n.ianage. more espec'ally 
to o])eraie, >\hh shows. 

'1 he fact that they direct such shows through Negroes neither 
lessens their blighting eli'ect nor in any way ameliorates the 
gravity of the situation, it is simply an imposing compromise 
tor patronage. Think of it ! Some mercenaries were so auda- 
cious as to invade the comnmnity of True Reformers' Mall and 
t;) establish an optional "jim-Crow" theater and to name it "The 
Howard!' Think of the community and think of the presuni])- 
tion. Here is a community which, in religious and educational 
athantages. in culture and relinement, in mmistrv and churches, 
is the peer of any in all America! The presumj)tioii was, that 
neither wealth, nor culture, nor science, nor art, nor moralit}-. 
nor religioif — not even Christianit}- itself — can teach the Xegrcj 
self-respect, manliness and the love of rights. 

It is quite generally known that this conimunitv boycotted this 
theater and that therefore its doors were never opened b\- white 
mercenaries. It was olitained b}- colored men and le-named 
"Minnehaha." 

r.ut how far could the boycott extend? CouM the success of 
this boycott stimulate and ins])ire Xegro Washington to make 
a bo}Cott as universal as is o])tional "Jim Crowism"? Not hardlv. 
Some urge that it w-as a boycott; it was not a bo\'cott, that 
since this theater was surrounded by three others, it was doomed, 
as an economic failure, in the minds of the>e mercenaries. Xot 
so: the self-res])ect of this communit}-, and the fact that their 
demand for this kind of amusement was being supplied by nearby 
shows, owned and' operated by X'^egroes, easily stimulated the 
boycott to success. Mr. Keys, manager of "lliawatha," ve- 
hemenlK ;isks, "lias the Xegro ever been known so grossK- to 

11 



/r/ 



resent intrusions upon his inanliDod and selt-rcspect as to make ft 

l)0}'COtt ?'" 

The boycott ceased here; but the animus of mercenaries has 
held on with undaunted courage. We observe that mercenaries 
from I'.altimore have estabhshed \Aith a jiffy an optional "Jim 
Crow." large, high-class theater on T Street." between vSixth and 
Seventh Streets, X. \V. They name it "The Howard," too. What 
a coincidence! What a sponge on this name! Can it be boy- 
cotted? Should it be? Let us sec. It is very logically and cen- 
trally located from a strategic point for local patronage. 

A white theatrical manager remarks to me : "This theater is 
located in a community of a different class of Negroes from those 
of the True Reformers' Community. As a whole, they have less 
self-respect and are not as comfortably situated. l' think this 
theater will take." 

It has a full sweep at the ra1)ble element of our race down 
Seventh Street. Northeast of it has the Le Droit Park com- 
munity ; that, though for the most is the social equal of the com- 
jnunity about True Reformers" Hall, has decidedly not the csf'rif ■ 
dc corps which essentially makes and asserts self-consciousness, 
manliness, and racial integrity. To the east lies a community 
very decidedly middle class, largely mixed with rabble elements. 
Thus the average tendency is an average Negro communitv, 
\\'ere these mercenaries sagacious? Did they know that this city 
is the Capital of the Union ? That the average Negro has equal 
opportunities for education, for general uplift, in line, for general 
civilization ? 1 fence, did they know whether the average Negro's 
self-respect would forbid such voluntary hmniliation of himself 
to patronize this show? Some things it is certain they knew. 
They knew that the average Negroes are supporting at least five 
optional "Jim-Crow" theaters running j^racticallv for their ex- 
clusive patronage. They knew there is a shameful incident where 
the management of the theater separates Negroes from whites 
l)y a partition about six feet high, like a stall in a stable, and that 
the Negroes virtually swarm this place. They knew, too, of 
another theater where the management separates the foul Negroes 
from the clean, and the clean Negroes from the whites. Tliey 
perhaps knew that in down-town first-class theaters the manage- 
ment cannc^t pull the Negro out of theaters, either bv his ears. or 
his toes. They certainly did not know, however, th;it there is ncjt 
a ])recedcnt in this country where a one-hundrcd-thousand-dollar 
enterprise was based rather exclusively upon a siii(jlc iicccssitx of 

12 



ihe Xcgro. unless U were rcliguuis. sirk nv (KatlT iK'iiclits, \vliich 
are liis fundanieiital. unax-oidahlc iineslnuiils. I lence, it w ill 
likely fail economically, if not boycotted. 

Should it be boycotted? .■Ibsolittcix s<>. I'.ecause (1) such in- 
vasions are an enormous calamity, being a solvent upon the 
Negro's efforts at enterprise and racial organization, and make for 
a serious crisis. For only such an effort can possibly save the 
Negro in this complex, industrial and harsh civilization. The 
average and industrious elements of a people are the bulwark of 
its future. Jf they are allured and dissolved what hoi)e remains v" 
Certainly none. 

It is well to mention that the Lincoln Memorial P.uilding Com- 
pany, of Negroes, planned a four-hundred-thousand-doUar enter- 
l)ris'e, the purpose of which was to furnish one h.rst-class theater, 
fifty store-rooms, a convention hall, and many other accommoda- 
tions. A wise plan! Ikit did nut this tloward invasion react 
largelv as a solvent u])on the theater feature of it? Did it not 
react likewise upon the P'ord Dabney, Hiawatha, Minnehaha and 
!Maceo? and even enormously disturb Church organization and 
welfare? The two latter theaters finally failed. 

( 2 ) He who owns and operates a theater becomes as much 
a power and lever of influence t(_) mold the moral character of a 
community as a minister of the gospel. Unfortunately, as in 
New York, large theaters which use much female talent have 
catered to female slave traffic, thus destroying many daughters 
of good names. 

Only when shows are under the ownership and direction of 
Negroes can they ever be benefactors to Negroes. By reason of 
their social exclusiveness, whites alienate their sympathetic ties 
for high moral usefulness to Negroes which such business status 
re((uires. So much is this true that the same kind of show, owned 
and operated by Negroes, for Negroes, will have a diff'erent moral 
effect, if owned and operated by whites, for Negroes, or owned by 
whites and operated through Negroes, for Negroes. Not only in 
amusements, but where have whites ever added nobility to Negro 
morality ? Their moral supervision stingeth as an adder and is as 
blighting as the scourging footsteps of an Attila. It reacts as a 
sofvent upon Negro family life, the bond of marriage is loosened, 
posterity is degenerated, society rushed headlong, a wdiole com- 
luunitv falls wounded to its deadly clutches, nay, what floodgates 
of licentiousness does it not unlock and what a mighty hand it 
nuist be that can close them again? I'.ad. indeed, that Negroes 

13 






Imve 11. >( pn.pfrh grasped this inexorable iialural law uf Iiiiinan 
nature. 

{'■U A theater is an echteator. To control the education of a 
people is to rule that people, hallut to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing. It is to controvert the aims, the purposes, antl the energies 
of a people. The w hites no longer depend upon military prowess, 
••r physical tact, to achieve dominant sway. In their luxury of 
achievement they are willing to match gray matter against gray 
matter. com])etitor against competitor under slight adverse con- 
ditions of the other fellow. Control the juind of a man or a 
people, the liml)s and body will follow. 

There is England in colonization granting minor privileges to 
petit heathen Kings as bribery, giving the stubborn Dinizulla a 
few thousand dollars annually, and two pianos and six wives, and 
l^ranting the little King of L'gandi eighteen thousand annually, 
and attempts to pacify restless India by placing a native East 
Indian in high Council. She fostered most vigorously the opium 
traffic in China ; and the United States sends missionaries to the 
l'hilip])ines to carry Christianity, using it as an excuse to teach 
•jljedience. while mercenaries sell intoxicants instinctively sub- 
♦luing Philippinos by inspiring their inefficency. 

White public sentiment tolerates ^fr. Washington to ride un- 
molested, as no other Xegro can, in rirst-class sleeping cars any- 
nhere in the South, thus militating against undoing "Jim Crow- 
jsm." and helping to make him a victim rather than an advocate 
of industrialism. 

To bend one people's mind to suit another's fancies is no new 
scheme. This deteriorating fact is significant even of chattel 
slavery. It so suppressed the sensibilities of Afro-Americans as to 
impair their imagination and originality. Hence, even our present 
day leaders are seldom foimd projecting themselves into the 
future to promulgate any great cause. They ratlier fall into 
rank after white dictation and leadership, thus becoming grapha- 
plvjuic orators. If their assignee! cause has been developed, they 
may be seen to linger around it as stutted aninTal's of prey loiter 
around the bones of a carcass, too sloven t(> seek a new tield. 
iiven the energ)'^ to ])rol)e FocaT conditions anrf to seek their remedy 
is essentiall}' imi)arrefL The fact of the X'egro hving surrounded 
bv ever\- AnuTican institution is ]x)und iv assimilate him largely 
and to unmake him oi himself. 

Xaturally. then, devices ma\- occasfonalh- entrap even the best 
muuls of the race, inlluencing them to endor>e, without second 

14 



/ 



lliought, schemes which arc decidedly injurious lu this race. 

Thus, ]^-of. Kelly Miller, an authunty on race issues, passes 
unohserxed the liuniiliation of tl)e Howard Theater. lie writes: 

Mr. J. A. Davls^ 

Arvcrne, L. I» 
My clear Sir : — ■ 

hi response to youf favnf I l)i.'<4 leave to sa\ that from present indica- 
tions, it seems Uu4t the Howard Theatre will he well patronized. 

As I understand it, this is not a "Jim Crow" theatre, but one in which 
colored Americans will not be discriminated against, as they are in every 
other playhouse in the city. Yours truly, 

Kelly Miller. 
Washington, D. C, Aug. 13, 1010. 

This is a remarkahle letter, not only as intlicative of the man. 
but in that it illustrates the peculiar impulse excited in Afro- 
Americans hy advertisement — the white man's most uniciue edu- 
cator. It is characteristic of this man that lacking invitation to 
institute agitation he hecomes an academic philosopher and re- 
solves ag-itation into a classic. In the storm of agitation he is a 
polished hero and classic demagogue ; but as the storm subsides 
he grows as calm as a crocodile basking in an African sunlight. 

Here is the premier status he fails to appreciate. In Washing- 
ton two conditions face theater manasfers or owners : 

(1) That legally the Negro in Washington has equal social 
nrivilcge. without this, that any theater, hotel, or restaurant, has 
the right to segregate him, but must meanw hile give equal service 
otherwise. 

(2) Sociall}-, the physical law, that two bodies — in other 
words, tlie white man and the Negro — cannot occupy the same 
space at the same time, is practical and enforced. 

Hence these theatrical mercenaries evidently ascertained that 
this social ostracism demanded three distinct classes of theaters 
in order to pay : 

{a) A theater must cater exclusively to white tra<le. and 
use white talent only, to make certain to atti-act colored patronage 
Jis little as possible, or 

(7;) A theater must cater to the public and "Jim Crow" Ne- 
groes, or 

( c) A theater must cater to Negroes exclusively and only recog- 
nize the right of whites to attend. 

As if borrowing the idea from advertisements of the Lincoln 
iNIemorial Building Company, that one large theater catering to 
Negroes would immensely pay. certain mercenaries built the I low- 

15 



;ir.[ I'n a cofmimnify wfurc it must depend entirely upon Negro 
patronage. As if hearing i.f the self-resjieet exercised hv Xegroc.'> 
in boycottirg the First Howard, they would use niueh di])l,,macv 
t(> advertise the Howard, far and near, as a theater without 
discrimination. Why (Hscriminate "in any part" when it is built 
for Xegroes? If it 'be built for Xegroes.'is it not discrimination 
inherent in the enterprise itself, inherent in the social conditions 
of the two races, and inherent in the social conditions of this com- 
munity and city wlien social conditi.jns demand that a Xegro 
theater be built to itself? To say it is exclusively for Negroes is 
practically true. 

A few whites, such as Greeks. Jews and Dagoes, will inter- 
mingle here with Xegroes. which circumstance is largely induced 
by this social opportunity to excite lower passion between the 
races. 

A Jew remarks to me that: "This theater will be built for the 
best class of colored people and the prices and management will 
be regidated to kee]) the lower classes away." Why should the 
best blood of the Negro race be intermingled w ith. and polluted 
by, these deteriorated descendants of Isaac and Jacob. Demos- 
thenes and Aristotle, Qesar and Cicero? 

This grade of social equality, which is so common at the X'orth, 
excites no better than the lower passions. This relation, is it 
moral or immoral? Jt is neither. It is positivelv non-mofal. It 
is more pitiful than strange that a peculiar social environment, 
the press and so-called white friends, can educate our leaders to 
regard as wholesome such stigma of e([ualit\-. What grapha- 
phones thev be ! 

Hon. I\. H. Terrell, judge of tlie .Municipal Court, also over- 
looks, but more grossly, these inherent social conditions, and 
seems solely afflicted with tlie (Hi)Ioniatic advertisements of white 
mercenaries. 

He writes in scr\ility: 

Mr. J. Arthur Davis, 

Dear vSir: hi answer tn your c|mrv T have tn say Uiat the Howard is 
not to be a house exc'iisively for colored people. 

Everybody will he welcomed aiul there will he no discrimination at all 
in any part of the theatre hecanse of color. 

It is unfortunate that because colored people are to be treated as they 
should be at the Howard that the impression is yetting- abroad that it 
is to be for colored iieojjle oidy. 

The better class of Xegroes here would resent such ;iu enterprise 
bittcrlv-. 

li. 



We hope the day will never come when we shall draw the line against 
anv people on account of their color. \'onrs trulv. 

k. H. Tl.KKKLL. 

His closing sentence would suggest that the judge is a student 
nf Mars and entirel}- unfamiliar with this ])lanet. Has not the 
line been drawn against the Xegro from the ver\- day he hrst 
landed as a slave at Jamestown? Investigation among the aver- 
age Negroes seems to reveal two elements: (-)ne extorts, "1 can't 
see discrimination in it." This is the dumb element. 

Another, "Our men who have money will not build us a big 
theater." This is the inconsistent element. 

A white policeman, discussing theaters, remarks: "T think 
Xegroes are fools for not building a large theater for themselves." 

Aly black countrymen, say. think, do what you may. it were not 
the purpo.se of civilization. Christian, or pagan, to nourish a people 
giviiig themselves willingly to humiliation, it rather extermin- 
ates, sweeps from the very face of the earth such drones. Evolu- 
tionists have long exhausted their patience to discover "The 
]\Iissing Link." Stupid fellows they were ! For that phenome- 
non is easily formed in the person or persons who regularly, 
knowingly, premeditatingly, and willingly submit themselves to 
attend optional "Jim Crow" enterprises. 

If you persistently surrender yourselves as "The Missing 
Link." was not the Civil War fought in vain ? Was not the 
franchise an imposition upon the State? And was not the work 
of philanthropists an idle dream or distorted emphasis? Why 
appeal to legislators or courts for action against "J'm Crowism," 
if you yourselves persistently and willingly support optional 
"Jim Crowism," or tolerate your weaker brother to support the 
same, which is just as humiliating as "Jim Crowism"? Do you 
think legislators, judges, or jurors are aslee]:) and unmindful ot 
vom- conduct? If vou take to optional "Jim Crowism" as natur- 
ally as birds take to the air and fishes to the sea, could they not 
justly and reasonably conclude that class legislation is in accord- 
ance with vour nature, that submission to. whites is a law of 
vour action and therefore as inexoral)le as an^■ organic law of 
nature? If you accept a given humiliating status and willingly 
make it a part of your life. }-our very nature, why blame courts 
or legislatures for afterwards stamping it as a correct status for 
vou to occupy, by their official action and sanction? As if the 
inherent qualities, the development from within, do not determine 
a people's social and political status. As if any people were not 

17 



arbitrators of their own future. Can legislatures leg^islate. or 
courts prescribe, one people equal to another, or can they reduce 
any people inferii)r? Jnfleed, neither can they do. These f jun- 
tanis (It justice may occasionallv assist or inconvenience a people. 
that's all. 11 

"jiin Crow" cars and tlisfranchiseinent represent an humble, 
submissive spirit or nature, and poor economic fitness in the 
pvoi)le that permanently endure them, not solelv cheap class legis- 
lation as generally ])r()claimed. 

\\ hy should any Xegro community of this city support optional 
■■jim Crowism"? They have little complaint against equal pro- 
tection of law. for etjual opptjrtunities for livelihood, have their 
churches and Sunday schools, public schools and university fa- 
cilities, in tine, they are in ample touch with civilization and 
breathe (lirect the very atmosphere from the dome of the Capitol 
of the Nation. Should not these things make anv communitv 
noble, manly, self-respecting? Does the work of civilization not 
flo for them what it does for other ])eoples? What shall we 
expect of our fellows in the swamps of Alabama or ]^Iississippi. 
or in the jungles of Zululand? 

This situation involves the interest of all Afro-Americans. To 
I)e disfranchised or to ride in a ""Jim Crow'' car may be a 
temporarv legal compulsion, and to be peoned or Ivnched may be 
teniporarily unavoidal)le, though even these things are not neces- 
sarily so; but to indulge in optional ■"Jim Crowism" is at once 
preventable and an exhibition of shameful weakness. Nay, can 
such people so careless of themselves be trulv elevated, substan- 
tially protected by the Stater If these "Jsms" administer a 
certain hypnotic state of mind to weaker Negroes causing certain 
partial loss of self-consciousness, there axe certain antiseptics 
w hich can revive them. Discover these, whatever they be ; use 
them at any cost. 

Whatever be your future to unfetter yourselves from oppres- 
sion's many horrors, it is absolutely certain that you must first 
develo]) sullicient ])ublic sentiment within the race to coerce first 
till- weaker members to shun discrimination before you can coerce 
the opposite race to abandon discrimination. 

If you would blot out Jim Crowism. which is authorized In- 
state and I*Vderal authorities, you must first have energy ancl 
courage enough to boycott optional "Jim Crowism" which is not 
any constituted authority at all. but iinreh- re])i-(,'vc'nts some alert 
mercenaries offering allurement^ .iiid iridiicement?<. 

18 



"]\m Crowism" sa3's to you: "Vou are an inferior^ I i\u) the 
iron-clad hand of authority, State and I^ederal. This is ymir 
place ; get into it, under penalty of law." 

Optional "Jim Crowism" says: "Oh, well, vou know you arc 
'The Missing Link,' but that is all right; let's be triends. 1 
have a place for you. You need a little recreation and 1 need the 
money ; won't you come in ?" 

Oh, you self-appointed mercenary humanitarians, maudlin sym- 
pathizers and pseudo-Negrophilists, what nerve ! What ])resum])- 
tion you entertain of this people ! 

But you, my black countrymen, owe it to yourselves to boy- 
cott optional "Jim Crow" enterprises. Why not mould the 
character of your own sons and daughters? They are not only 
born of you, but of all your ancestry ; to them your other pos- 
terity will be born. 

Theaters are benefactors ; but to be such requires more discre- 
tion and guardianship than the alien sympathy of whites will 
allow them to exercise for Negroes. The infusion of immoral 
animus is an inducement, especially in the traffic of females. If 
the white man has ever guarded and protected Negro woman- 
hood, such event has not yet reached written history. We await 
the arrival of such behavior in him just as laboriously as we 
await light travelling from some distant star since creation which 
has not yet reached the earth. 

You complain that "it takes time to accomplish this or that." 
We hear too much of the time element in history ; what is it ? 
When will it be ? Shall we conjecture it will be when spiders grow 
bigger than elephants, or when women lose their pride, or when 
orang outangs play mumble peg in Dahomey ? 

There runs the white man with the wealth and culture «.)f the 
ages — all he has vaulted since before oracles sang at Delphi ; and 
since he left the swamps of Germany. He runs and the ca- 
pacity of his lungs enlarges as the square of the distance in- 
creases from the starting point. There are you running after 
him with what wealth ? The burden of your own weight, whisper- 
ing in panting breath that in the fulness of time and in the ripen- 
ing of the occasion, you will spring from the trite of this pace 
as if out of a panoramic box and force a halt on the white man. 

Fellow residents, why extenuate your condition? Why equivo- 
cate, as if your education were at fault ? You are the best educa- 
ted Negro aggregation in all the earth ; as if your religion 
interfered ; the religion which Christ taught, encourages the 

19 



]>ractico of nuinliiK's<. self-rosi)ect and love of riglits. I lave you 
tliat religion'-' ]f not, then your religion interferes with your 
freedom. If a religion interferes with your freedom, fetter tluit 
rrliijion and yet freedom. Where is your individuality and the 
moral and coercive force of your churches? 

Ciod. Ill}' people, look here ! Is it possible that you are really 
by instinct charmed and \ictimized h}- Caucasian discriminatory 
and humiliating devices? i'hilosophers tell me that instinct is 
non-progressive and unchangeable; and that from instinct the 
mocking bird sings the same notes to-day that it sang a thousand 
years ago; and llic eagle has not ad\anced ouc iota in skill since 
Xoah built his Ark, either in nestling her voung or in encircling 
the mountains. If yours be instinct, ah, then, black men; oh, your 
fate ! 

There is a hereafter to wliich we all go. but what torment is 
worse than endless oppression? What a pang of mind! What a 
misery of soul ! What a Naming conscience ! 

I'ut you only sleep ; arouse, summon your strength, harass, tor- 
ment "The Missing Link." boycott all optional "Jim Crowism" ; 
nav. eliminate all discriminatory "Isms"; may long live self- 
respect, manliness, rmd the Spirit of Freedom. 




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